User blog:Terry the Cat/NX Chapter 007: Brave Up! I Can Be a Hero Too!
The next day, Room 160 was over-full with people looking for a chance to join the Buddyfight Club. Dan and Katarina had successfully gotten more interested people. The problem? They were not very good at Buddyfight. Raiki had just got done fighting several of them. During a break in the action, Raiki went over to them to give an update. "All these people are coming in with Trial Decks," Raiki observed. "They simply don't stand a chance against me." "That's a huge problem!" Dan complained. "We need five members by end of school on Friday. We won't get there if we keep beating them." "So what?" Raiki asked. "You want me to go easy on them?" Dan was silent. "Of course not!" Katarina insisted. "We established a rule and we need to maintain it! Especially if the coach says we can go to the School Carnival." Some time later, the crowd had settled down and the room was now empty except for the club members. "How hard is it to beat one of us at a card game anyways?" Raiki asked the others. "I don't know," Dan answered. If they can't defeat any of us, we won't have a club." All of a sudden, the three heard a noise. It was coming from a far corner of the room, where a girl was looking at the cards in her deck. Any time she thought someone was watching her, she would try to hide behind her cards. The three approached her slowly, so as to not intimidate her by accident. "Are you here to try out for the club?" Katarina asked her. No response, as the girl was still trying to hide. "Come on, now," Dan insisted. "We're friends here." Still no response. "Let me try again, Dan." Katarina moves a little closer. "I'm Katarina Sawatari. What's your name?" "... Asaka Kidani..." "Hero World?" Katarina asked as she saw some of Asaka's cards. "Yeah," Asaka answered her. "They're no good though." "What makes you say that?" Katarina asked her. "They look fine to me." "..." "I agree with Katarina," Dan told Asaka. "You guys are nice and all," Asaka answered them. "But no one wants to play with me." "Have you asked anyone?" Katarina asked her. "Well, uh... no... not really..." "Why not?" Raiki asked. Asaka fell silent again. She seemed intimidated by him. Asaka then whispered, "I'm afraid they'll say no... Or that they'll laugh at me..." "It's okay to be afraid, Asaka," Katarina said. But before she could say anything else, Asaka interrupted her with "No it's not! These Hero World monsters, they aren't afraid of anything! They know being scared makes them weak." "Well," Dan thought for a moment. "I'm sure they're afraid too sometimes. Don't heroes fight monsters and stuff?" "Well, yeah..." "Then surely they might be afraid sometimes," Dan continued. "They might be worried that the monsters will defeat them." "So all you have to do is imagine yourself as strong, like your cards," Katarina added. "Imagination becomes your strength." "Wrong card game, Sawatari," Raiki interrupted. Asaka thought to herself for a moment. "I've got to be strong like them..." "How about joining me in a Buddyfight?" Katarina asked her. "We're always looking for new members." "Not to mention how good we'll look when we have the principal's daughter in our club..." Raiki said quietly. ---- A few moments later, Katarina had the table set up for their game. Asaka could be seen nervously shuffling her cards. "Are you ready, Asaka?" Katarina asked her. "I suppose..." "Good. Let's Buddyfight!" "Raise the flag!" "I'm with Star Dragon World!" Katarina declared. "I'm with Hero World!" Asaka followed. "My buddy is Helix Dragon, Ellie!" "Mine is X-Class Battle Hero, Brave-X!" "Brave-X?" Raiki asked Dan. "Never heard of that card before." "This will be an interesting fight," Dan answered him. "What makes you say that?" "Asaka and Katarina are using decks that rely on having an item card with lots of souls," Dan explained. "Katarina will stall the game until she hits her win condition. Asaka will try to stop that with her offensive arsenal." "How do you know that already?" Raiki asked him. "It's just a feeling," Dan replied. "As if I've seen that card before..." "You can have the first move if you like," Katarina offered to Asaka. "You go ahead," Asaka instead said. "I'll go second." "That's odd..." Raiki observed. "What is?" Dan asked him. "Normally, you'd want to take the opportunity to go first when offered it. But Asaka decided to go second. What's she planning?" "Draw, then charge and draw," Katarina said as she began the first turn. "I cast Helical Blessing! And once I do, it is equipped as an item card." "That works like a Hero World card..." Asaka observed to herself. "Next, I Buddy Call! Helix Dragon, Ellie to the right!" (Katarina: 10→11) Katarina's faithful Buddy monster appeared on her shoulder in chibi form. "I'll do my best, Katarina-chan!" "Ellie's skill sends the top card of my deck into the soul of my item," Katarina continued to explain. "It's Zarmina, so my item gains her Power and Critical. As well, I get to add another card to the soul." "Katarina is piling on the soul cards," Raiki observed. "How lucky! Another Zarmina, which adds another 4000 Power and 1 Critical! Let's see what else we got here. Helical Barrier, so no bonus there. Then, I call Helix Dragon, Sylvia to the left! Draw one card, then place a hand card into my item's soul. That's four." She then turned her item card sideways. "I attack." (Asaka: 10→8) "My turn," Asaka then said. "You add another card to your item's soul." "How did you know that already?" Katarina asked. "I read the card. Draw, then charge and draw. Ride! X-Class Battle Hero! Brave-X!" (Size 3, 13000/5000/2) Everyone was surprised to see she rode so early. (Asaka: 8→9) "Let's begin. Brave Up! By putting a hand card into Brave-X's soul, its Power increases by 10000." "That's 23000 Power," Raiki observed. "What is she planning?" "I call N-Class Battle Hero, Osaka (Size 1, 6000/2000/1) to the left! When it appears, my gauge increases by 1, and Brave-X gets an extra 10000 Power." "This is very unusual," Dan noted. "What is?" Raiki asked him. "Now that she's playing, her attitude has completely changed. She's like a different person when she plays Buddyfight." "I call a second Osaka to the right! The same effect with this one." "43000 Power?!" Raiki had never seen numbers this high before. "Osaka, attack the fighter! Brave!" "Brave?!" Dan was now the one who was surprised. "When my item has 40000 or more Power, the Brave abilities of all my cards activate. For Osaka, it gains 5000 Power!" "Sylvia moves to the center!" Katarina used her monster to block the attack. "When Sylvia is destroyed, I add the top card of my deck to my item's soul." "That won't help you," Asaka answered. "The other Osaka attacks you!" "I'll take it." (Katarina: 11→10) "Brave-X, attack the fighter! Brave! I pay one gauge to draw a card, then I call Brave Hero Mechanic, Dendy (Size 1, 5000/3000/1) to the left! With Brave, it gains 10000 Power, and with its own effect, it gains 1 Critical!" "I'll take this one as well." (Katarina: 10→8) "Just don't take too many attacks, okay, Katarina-chan?" Ellie told her. "I'll be fine." "Not for long," Asaka responded. "Brave-X has Double Attack! Brave! Call Brave Hero Mechanic, Quilt (Size 1, 4000/5000/1) to the right! With Brave, it gains 10000 Power, and with its own effect, it gains 5000 Power!" "I cast! Helical Barrier!" Katarina answered. "Not only does your attack get nullified, but my item's soul increases by 1 and I gain 1 life!" (Katarina: 8→9) "Quilt attacks you!" Asaka continued. "I cast! Helical Barrier!" (Katarina: 9→10) "Then Dendy attacks you directly!" (Katarina: 10→8) "I guess it's my turn," Katarina then said as she began the next turn. "Helical Blessing adds one more card to its soul. And it's Ellie!" "What does that mean?" Asaka asked. "My item can attack twice this turn. And with eight cards in the soul, my item has 21000 Power and 5 Critical!" "5 Critical?!" Asaka was not happy to hear that. Two attacks from Katarina's item would mean a game end. However... "I call a new Helix Dragon, Ellie on top of the old one! Add Zarmina to the soul, and then Ellie's Gift as well. Once again, call Sylvia to the left! That's eleven." "30000 Power and 7 Critical," Asaka noted to herself. "That won't be good enough." "I'll attack you directly with my item!" "Dendy's effect! She destroys herself to increase my item's Power by 10000!" "That won't do anything!" "I cast! 100,000 Years Too Early! The attack is nullified!" "Don't forget," Katarina reminded her, "Helical Blessing has Double Attack this turn!" This time, the attack went through. (Asaka: 9→2) "A-Class Battle Hero, Valeon's effect! I discard it from my hand to draw a card and call Osaka from my hand! My gauge increases by 1 and Brave-X gets 10000 Power!" "Why do you keep increasing your offensive power?" Katarina asked. "You should be worried about your Defense! Ellie, attack the fighter!" "I cast! The Flame of Justice! With it, Brave-X gets 10000 Power and 5000 Defense!" "Wait..." Katarina finally realized. "Brave! Osaka gets 5000 Power and Defense! Use Move!" "That's 7000 Defense over Ellie's 6000 Power," Dan observed. "But why would Asaka waste one of her monsters when Brave-X has 11000 Defense?" "I'll tell you why, Dan," Asaka began to explain. "Osaka has Counterattack, which means one of Katarina's monsters gets destroyed!" Ellie was then sent to the Drop Zone. Katarina was stunned to see the raw skill of Asaka's defense. "Turn end..." "Draw, charge and draw!" Asaka was confident. This would be the final turn. "Brave Up! Add 10000 Power to Brave-X!" "She doesn't have enough hand cards to boost Brave-X to 40000 Power," Raiki observed. "On top of that, Sawatari still has 8 life." "That might be true," Dan noted, "But Katarina has no more hand cards. Right now, the most damage Asaka can do is 5. Provided Asaka can't access Brave, if Katarina blocks one of Brave-X's attacks, she will be able to survive." "I cast! It's About Time I Got Serious! By paying 1 gauge, I draw two cards! One of which I'll call! Osaka to the left! Add 10000 Power to Brave-X!" "You were saying?" Dan said to Raiki. "On top of Quilt, I call Brave Pilot, Bunnie! Her ability activates! By paying 1 life, my gauge increases by 1 and Brave-X gets 10000 Power!" (Asaka: 2→1) "She's accessed Brave..." "Brave-X, attack the fighter! Brave! Call B-Class Battle Hero, Kirinda (Size 3, 12000/5000/2) to the left!" "Sylvia moves to the center! That means I add Zarmina to the soul. Let's add another Zarmina and Cressida to the soul as well. Draw one card from Cressida's effect." "That makes fifteen soul cards!" Dan shouted. "What does that mean?" Asaka asked. "It means if I can survive this turn, I win the game," Katarina answered. "Right now, Asaka can do 5 damage," Dan observed. "Katarina needs a defensive card right now." "Bunnie attacks you directly! With her Brave, all my monsters get 5000 Power!" (Katarina: 8→7) "Katarina-chan! We can't keep taking hits like this!" Ellie pleaded with her. "Don't worry, Ellie, I've got a plan." "Brave-X! Attack the fighter! Brave! Call Dendy to the right! Critical+1!" (Katarina: 7→5) "Then Kirinda attacks you directly!" (Katarina: 5→3) "Katarina-chan!" "Don't worry about it, Ellie!" "Kirinda's ability at the end of its battle, it goes to Brave-X's soul. I get to restand Brave-X, and it gets Critical+1 until end of turn!" "What?!" "Brave-X, attack the fighter! Brave! Call Dendy! Add +1 Critical!" Katarina looked nervously at her remaining hand card. She thought she had a chance to survive the turn. However, Asaka's high intensity offense was too much for her. (Katarina: 3→0) After the end of the Buddyfight, Katarina offered a hand to the now nervous Asaka. "Great job, Asaka," she told her. "Welcome to the Buddyfight Club." "You... you aren't upset that I won?" "Why would I be upset?" Katarina asked her. "Yeah," Dan agreed as he approached the two. "You did amazing out there. You deserve a spot in the club." "Th- thank you..." Asaka said nervously. Excited for the coming tomorrow, Dan then said to himself, "Shingo's coming tomorrow... We need to be at our best if we want to defeat him." ---- Dan: And now for the card intro segment! At the end of each episode, I'll talk about an important card you'll need to think about when you Buddyfight. Today's card is Asaka's ace in the hole, X-Class Brave Hero, Brave-X! This monster has the ability to call another monster from your hand when it attacks while Brave is active! What's Brave, you may ask? Brave is an ability that is active when your item has 40000 or more Power. Combining this with other cards that have Brave means you can unleash an offensive that would make the heroes proud! I hope everyone tries out this card at least once. With this card, you can take your skills to the next level! Let's Buddyfight! ---- Shingo: One. Two. Shingo's comimg for you? (a knock on the door) Shingo: Three. Four. Better raise your flag. (more knocking) Shingo's mom: What's going on in there?? Shingo: Mom! I'm trying to come up with a scary entrance! Shingo's mom: I think you need to go outside and get some fresh air. Shingo: A Prince of Darkness cannot be exposed to sunlight, mom! Shingo's mom: Shingo? Your friends are here! Shingo: Tell them I'm not here mom! Dan: You know we can hear you, right? Shingo: Can't this Buddyfight wait until tomorrow? Dan: I sure hope so! Let's all have a good Buddyfight! Next Chapter: Venom Swamp! Prince of the Night Rides! Category:Blog posts